Train-stopping means



Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

UNITED; STATES HARRY L. CRAIG, 0F COLLEGE POINT, NEW YORK.

TRAIN-STOPPING Means.

Application filed March 27, 1922. 7 Serial No. 546,999.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY L. CRAIG, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at College Point, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Train-Stopping Means, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in train stoppingdevices, and one of the ob- .jects thereof is to providenew and improved operating means for actuating the emergency brakes of a railroad train, and si-- multaneonsly operating the throttle lever to shut off the steam from the cylinders of the engine. I The present invention contemplates certain improvements covered in my Patent No. 1,081,892 issued December 16th, 1913.

Other objects, and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in'the courseof the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles, constituting the invention, and

the scopeof protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein I have illustrated a preferred form of embodimentv of my invention:

The figure is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral l denotes a lever adapted to control the air in the braking apparatus of a railwaytrain, a portion of such apparatus being indicated at 2. It will be understood of course that this braking apparatus may be of any, desired character.

Pivotally connected at 3to the lever 1 is a" rod 4c, which extends through the guides 5 and 6, .andpositioned .upon said rod, and

interposed between the guide 6 and a pin 7 carried by therod, is the coil spring 8, the function of which is to urge the rod in the direction of the cam 9, whereby the valve lever 1 will be held in the position shown in the drawing. 1 I i The cam lever 9 is-carried upon the'arms 10 and 11, Whichapproach each other to form the hub 12, the latter being j ournalled upon the shaft or stud13. Thev cam 9 is so tapered longitudinally of its length that when it is moved or, falls-to the position shown in the dotted lines of the drawing,

its engagement with the end 14 of the rod 4 causes it to push the latter against the the air tension of the spring 8, whereby brake lever 1 willbe actuated.

The cam 9 is provided'with a notch 15,

which receives the downwardly extending: part or flange 16 of the bar 17, said bar extending downwardly through the floor of the notch 15, of the cam 9, whereby the latter will fall by gravity to the position shown in the dotted lines in the drawing, causing the rodv 4 to be slid longitudinally and operatet-he air brake control lever 1.

The leverJQO is intended to be operated by a fixed stop or abutment placed adjacent the railway track, said lever being so positioned withrespect to said abutment that when the train passes that point, said abut- PATENT oFF| ment will strike the lever-and cause it to m be swung to the position shown in the dotted lines in the drawing, thereby causing the operationof the air brake lever just,

described.

Referring now to that portion of my device which operates to shut off the steam, the reference numeralf23 denotes theusual throttle lever, pivotally mounted at 24:,to

a fixed support, and having pivoted thereto intermediate its ends at the point 25, the

valve rod 26, which valve rod at its opposite end is connected with the lever controlling the admission of steam to the cylinderof th engine.

construction thereof forms no part of the present invention, it being suflicientf for the purpose of this description to understand that therod 26 'a-ctuates the throttle valve of the engine.

The, reference numeral 27 denotes an arc shapedrackmounted' upon afixed support, (not shown) as by means of the screws'28 I This last named part is not shown in the drawing, inasmuch as the and 29, the teeth 30 of which cooperate with v a iably mounted in a guide slot 32, provided in. the lever 23, whereby the to the bell-crank lever 10, one leg 11 of which is pivotally mounted at 42 to the lever 23, adjacent the handle 4% thereof, the

, other leg 15 ofthe bell-crank lever terminating in a handle portion located adjacent the handle l whereby the engineer in grasping the handle 44-. can also grasp the handle 45, wl'iereby the bellcrank lever 4:0 will be. swung to withdraw the teeth oi the dog from the teeth of the rack, terminating the lever 28 to be swung in either direction upon its pivotal support.

Pivotally mounted upon a post or screw 4l6, provided upon the dog is a link 47, and the opposite end of said link being pivoted at "8 to a link 49. the latter being pivoted to the stud or screw .25. to which the valve control rod Q6 is also pivoted.

. Links 127 and 19 form a toggle, which when straightened m-ov s the dog 31 rearwardly to disengage the teeth of the latter tromthe teeth of the rack, thereby performing the same function is performed by the manual operation of the bell-crank lever 10.

Referring now to the mechanism employed for automatically straightening the toggle to release the teeth of the dog 31 from the teeth of the rack, the link is provided with a rearward extension 50, the end 51 of which is located in a. position to be engaged by the head 52 of the piston rod 53 carried by the piston 54:. The piston 5a is mounted in a cylinder 55, the coil spring 56 encircling the piston rod, and interposed between the end wall 57 of the cylinder and the piston 54, operating to move and hold the latter in the position shown in the drawing. It will be understood that it the dog 81 were permitted to slide downwardly indefinitely, the link l? would be merely swung to the left with no suiiioient application of force to the throttle lever 23 to move it adequately, the spring 35 being relatively a light spring. Therefore, as shown, the movement of the dog lengthwiseof the lever is arrested by the termination of the guide slot 32, after the disengagement of the dog and the quadrant 27 and prior to the complete alignment of the links 1 7 and 1?). The pressure of the piston rod head 52 thus becomes effective in moving the lever 28 and the throttle valve rod 26.

Leading into the cylinder in front of the piston 54 is a conduit 58, which conduit leads through a valve 59 to a conduit 60, the latter being connected with a source of air pressure not shown.

The valve 59 is operated by a lever 61, the end 62 of whichis located in the path of an arm 63 provided upon the air brake operating rod 4, so that when said rod l is moved in an endwise direction, as already described, said arm 63 engaging the end 62 of the lever 61, will operate said last mentioned lever to open the valve 59 so that the air pressure exerted through the conduit 58 upon the pistonli will cause the latter to be moved in the cylinder 55, whereby the head 52 of the piston rod will engage with the extension 50 of the link 49, thereby straightening the toggle and disengaging the teeth of the dog 51 with the teeth of the rack, The continued movement of the piston rod in an outward direction under the air pressure will, when the toggle 50 is straightened, cause the throttle lever 23 to be swung to the right, thereby moving the valve rod 26 longitudinally to operate the throttle valve and shut oil the steam.

The spring 56, which is employed to return the piston 5a to the position shown in the drawing, when the pressure in the conduit is released by means of a suitable vent not shown, is of tapered form, sothat the convolutions thereof will nest together when the spring is compressed.

It will accordingly be seen that I have provided a construction well adapted to attain, among others, all theends and 0bjects above pointedout, in a simple yet facile i'nanner; whereby the emergency braking mechanism of a railway train and the throttle valve of the engine may be simultaneously operated.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In train stopping means, the combination with releasable latched devices, of a spring controlled air brake rod actuated by the release of the said devices, the said rod having a striker arm projecting from it, an air valve arranged to be operated by the movement of the said arm, acylinder having. a spring controlled piston. and piston rod, the cylinder being incommunication with the said air valve,a throttle valve lever, a toothed quadrant, a releasable dog carried by the said lever and engaging the quadrant, a throttle valve rod pivotally attached to the said lever, a toggle joint having a limited movement and having the end of one link attached tothe said dog, and having an intermediate point of the second link of the said toggle pivotally attached to the connection of the said lever and throttle valve rod, and the free extremity of the said second link being arranged in the path of and operated by the said piston rod whereby the saiddog is released and the said throttle valve rod is moved.

2. In train stopping means, a throttle valve lever, in combination With a throttle valve rod pivotally attached to the lever, a toothed quadrant, a dog mounted to slide upon the lever and engaging the quadrant, means for releasing the dog comprising a toggle joint having the end of one link connected With the dog, and an intermediate point of the second link of the toggle pivotally attached to the said lever, meansofor ton rod arranged to act upon the free end 1 I of the said second link of the toggle whereby the toggle joint and are operated.

In testimony whereof, I atfiX my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

HARRY L. CRAIG.

the throttle valve lever lVitnesses:

EMMA WEINBERG, DOROTHY WARD. 

